Google+ Says “See You Later” – A Quick and Blunt Goodbye
In a surprising twist, Google’s social‑media cousin is quitting the stage earlier than the script allowed. On Monday, Alphabet’s flagship service announced it would shut down Google+ in April—four months ahead of schedule—after stumbling over the same pesky software glitch a second time this year.
What went wrong?
- The bug let partner apps peek into user info like names, emails, gender, and age.
- It hit 52.5 million Google+ accounts for six days, starting last month.
- Google says there’s no evidence that these apps actually read the data. So, a likely “no‑oops” situation for most folks.
Why the early exit?
Google felt it was time to cut the ribbon for good. The company’s blog post made it clear that they’re not playing around with the warning flag—they’re pulling the plug fast to nix the problem before it crawls back.
Extra pressure from Congress
Coincidence? Maybe not. The next day, CEO Sundar Pichai lines up for a testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. The drama hits concurrently with lawmakers from both parties urging tighter privacy laws—an echo of the same concerns that have been raised about Google, Facebook, and the tech giants at large.
Past promises and future plans
Back in October, Google had cut the consumer version of Google+ in August 2019, citing maintenance headaches and low user traffic. They also admitted that a bug could have exposed data from up to 500,000 users for over two years.
What’s next? Apps that rely on Google+ to get user data will lose access in 90 days. But the focus isn’t all lost: Google will still build the service for its business customers, aiming to keep it fun and functional.
TL;DR
- Google+ shutting down early in April due to a repeat software flaw.
- 52.5 million accounts hit, no proven data theft.
- CEO steps up before congressional hearing on privacy.
- Consumer version ended in 2019; business version will keep humming.
